Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets - NBA Preview
On Friday night April 13, 2012 Los Angeles Lakers will be hosting the game against Denver Nuggets here at the Staples Center.
It seems that the home team has found a way to sustain without talisman Kobe Bryant who has been ousted due to inflamed left shin.
Mike Brown has been preparing for the worst for quite some time now. Earlier in the last moth his decision to substitute Black Mamba with Metta World Peace at the death was met with huge scepticism. But he knew, by vesting more
confidence in Peace and allowing him more minutes on the court will catalyze his performance, once Kobe is rested. Coach’s plan finally did come together in Lakers last match against San Antonio Spurs, 98-84 as Metta collected 26 points.
Similarly Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol have stepped up well to make up for the loss of Kobe. In the same match against Spurs Bynum shined with a career performance. He had 30 rebounds and 16 points while Gasol had 21.
Bynum was all praise for Metta who has taken the responsibility of carrying the team on his back.
"Metta stepped up big and he hit a lot of clutch shots," said Bynum, who became the fifth player in franchise history with a 30-rebound game. "(Steve) Blake did too. Matt Barnes shot freely so that's why we have teammates and they
picked up the slack. I was just playing defence."
Lakers are on the 3rd playoffs spot in the Western conference and will be striving to cement that place. They are 2-1 against Nuggets in this season and Denver are yearning to neutralize the lead.
Nuggets are currently on a 2 game winning streak and are clinging on to the 7th playoffs spot in the same conference. They handed a 113-107 defeat to Minnesota Timberwolves who were playing without their playmaker Kevin
Love.
Al Harrington laboured through 22 minutes with injured knee while Danilo Gallinari played his 1st game after missing 10 in a row due to fractured thumb. Wilson Chandler will be missing the game due to groin injury while
Rudy Fernandez is out indefinitely due to lower back strain.
Harrington took a bold decision to play through injury but the question that looms large is how long would he sustain.
"It was a little hard to move laterally," Harrington told the team's official website. "But I'm done complaining about it. Just going to take it game by game. I can shoot. I can't really drive and spin like I want to. Hopefully
it starts feeling a little better."
Now Kenneth Faried and half injured company will be facing the Lakers who have started to gather momentum in the absence of their team captain. Nuggets require this victory more the Lakers because they are being closely followed
for the same spot by two other teams.
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